Tim Anderson Named MWC Defensive Player Of The Year

The Mountain West Conference announced its 2007-08 men’s basketball awards today. The league’s nine men’s head coaches, along with a selected media panel, picked the all-conference teams, as well as the coach, player, newcomer, freshman and defensive awards.

UNLV Head Coach Lon Kruger captured MWC Coach of the Year honors for the first time, while BYU’s Lee Cummard and New Mexico’s J.R. Giddens were named Co-Players of the Year. Additionally, Air Force’s Tim Anderson garnered Defensive Player of the Year accolades, Colorado State’s Marcus Walker was chosen as the Newcomer of the Year and San Diego State’s Billy White was tabbed the Freshman of the Year.

All nine Mountain West institutions were represented on the 15-member all-MWC teams. Regular-season champion BYU and San Diego State led the league with three all-conference selections apiece, highlighted by unanimous first-team honoree Cummard for the Cougars. UNLV and Utah also had multiple players chosen with two each, while Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, TCU and Wyoming had one apiece.

Five players were repeat all-conference selections. Trent Plaisted of BYU and Brandon Ewing of Wyoming are both third-time honorees, with Plaisted moving up to the first team after consecutive second-team selections, while Ewing is a second-team choice for the second straight year, following third-team accolades in 2005-06. Cummard makes the leap to the first team after receiving third-team kudos last season. UNLV’s Wink Adams was a first-team member this year after earning second-team honors in 2006-07, while Utah’s Luke Nevill moves up to the second team following a third-team appearance last year.

Kruger collected his first MWC coaching honor after guiding the Runnin’ Rebels to their second straight runner-up MWC finish (12-4) and back-to-back 20-win campaigns (23-7) for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

Cummard, a 6-7, 185-pound junior guard/forward from Mesa, Ariz., led the Cougars to their second straight and fourth overall MWC regular-season title. He finished with the league’s second-best field goal shooting percentage in conference play, converting 54.8 percent of his attempts while averaging 15.5 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Giddens, a 6-5, 215-pound senior from Oklahoma City, Okla., helped the Lobos to their highest MWC finish (third) in three years while registering league-high averages of 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a game in conference action. He was the only student-athlete to register two 30-point outings in MWC play this season, including a career-high 36 against Wyoming.

Anderson, a 6-3, 180-pound senior guard from El Paso, Texas, led the Falcons and ranked second in the conference with 34 steals while averaging 37 minutes a game in league play. He also registered six blocks against MWC opponents.

Walker, a 6-0, 175-pound junior guard from Kansas City, Kan., ranked second in the league with an 18.1 scoring average in conference action. He topped the 20-point mark in eight of 16 MWC contests this season, including a run of six straight.

White, a 6-7, 190-pound forward from Las Vegas, Nev., led all freshmen in scoring (9.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) in conference action. He shot 62.9 percent from the field and recorded two double-doubles against league opponents.

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